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Byline: LAURA MANDARO
Orange County, the poster child for well-landscaped, centerless American suburbia, is about to get a makeover: skyscrapers.
And if Anaheim city planners have their way, their community will finally gain a long-sought-after draw: a downtown.
The California city best known as the home of Disneyland and Major League Baseball's Angels recently approved a massive residential and retail development that includes 11 high-rise condominium towers, some reaching 38 stories.
Towers of any sort amount to an architectural U-turn in this region of planned single-family home developments, malls, business parks and sports stadiums -- all held together by a network of freeways and heavily traveled streets.
"What's being created is an urban village or a new downtown that will surround sports and entertainment facilities," said John Nicoletti, a spokesman for the Anaheim city council.
Turning suburbia into an urban center marks a dramatic shift in architectural and cultural thinking.